1. Technical Field
The invention relates to methods and materials involved in treating human papillomavirus infections and human papillomavirus-associated conditions.
2. Background Information
Human Papillomaviruses (HPV), members of the papillomavirinea family of viruses, are recognized as a human pathogen. Various types of HPV are tropic for cutaneous and mucosal epithelial cells, and consequently they are involved in development of papillomas (including common, genital, and planter warts), and cervical carcinomas (zur Hausen, Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol., 186:131-56 (1994)). Types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 52, and 58 are involved in nearly 100 percent of all carcinomas of the cervix (Walboomers et al., J. Pathol., 189:12-9 (1999)), with 16 and 18 constituting “high risk” types.